Redefining Atheism in the Name of "Social Justice"???

[TheEncogitationerParticipant]

Fellow Unbelievers,

Here’s one of those interesting stories that comes up when you put “Atheism” in the news search engine:

Black Skeptics Find Meaning in Uplifting Their Community Through Social Justice
Black nonbelievers have for years been working to redefine what it means to be an Atheist, a word too often linked to white spaces mostly concerned with Creationism and separation of Church and State

Black skeptics find meaning in uplifting their community through social justice

My thoughts?:  I am all for equal individual rights and equal justice before the law for all, regardless of “race,” “ethnicity;” national origin, age, handicap, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, or any condition of birth, as well as regardless of class, belief, unbelief, or ideology.

I am all for inclusiveness in Atheist gatherings and groupings.  When and if Atheist individuals or groups support or practice irrational discrimination and hatred, I am against it.  (That includes Neo-Nazis/White Supremacists  like George Lincoln Rockwell, Tom Metzger, and Richard Spencer, or Marxist-Leninist Communists who support eliminationism against “Counter-Revolutionaries” and “Class Enemies.”)

With all that said, though, there is no need to “redefine Atheism.”

Atheism is simply lack of belief in a god or gods.  And because Atheism is not a belief but an unbelief, it is the default state of every tabula rasa human being that was ever born, regardless of conditions of birth.

Bigots may exclude, discriminate, and hate, but the concept of Atheism does not, never has, and never will.

The concept of Atheism needs no redefinition in the name of “Social Justice” or any other pretext.  For that matter, Justice with modifiers is not Justice.

• This topic was modified 4 years, 3 months ago by  TheEncogitationer. Reason: Spelling and spacing

[—Participant]

I don’t get the impression the author is suggesting the literal meaning of the word ‘atheism’ is being redefined, but rather the significance atheism has in certain contexts and the way some people relate to being atheists is being expanded.

[Belle RoseParticipant]

RE: Atheism is simply lack of belief in a god or gods.

Maybe that’s true “in theory,”…But not practically speaking.

[PopeBeanieModerator]

TheEncogitationer wrote:

Here’s one of those interesting stories that comes up when you put “Atheism” in the news search engine:

Black Skeptics Find Meaning in Uplifting Their Community Through Social Justice

Black nonbelievers have for years been working to redefine what it means to be an Atheist, a word too often linked to white spaces mostly concerned with Creationism and separation of Church and State

I have strong feelings about how ironic (and unfair) it is that South Americans and (e.g.) Southern Blacks have been so taken in by Christianity to start with. Of course a bigger picture here is how these kinds of cultural impositions, enforced by people in power (who of course are mostly white Christians) has had so much impact worldwide, in the history of civilization… including the next most-imposed religion on the world, Islam.

So any black vs atheist identity friction may just be the other side of the black/Latino and so on coin that started some hundreds of years ago as a black vs Christian friction?

[Reg the Fronkey FarmerModerator]

I have never spoken with an atheist who considered the word to mean anything other than a lack of belief in the existence of god(s). That is what the word means.   The same is true of theism. A theist is someone who believes in  the existence of god(s).

People will have views based upon what they do or do not believe. Those beliefs or lack thereof will be the cornerstones of how their versions of reality are formed but the terms still retain their meaning. I don’t understand Evolution to be true because I am an atheist but because my version of reality is based upon scientific discovery.

If I was an Evangelical or Muslim, I would base it upon the Biblical or Quranic versions (they are the same) as being correct.

I could not be a theist and accept Evolution because I cannot both accept that humans are a product of speciation within the “ape family” and that a Creator God made us in the form we are today. The contradiction is too vast for any middle ground.

[Reg the Fronkey FarmerModerator]

A quote about the white missionaries in Africa, attributed to Desmond Tutu:

“They taught us to pray with our eyes closed. When we opened our eyes, they had the land and we had the Bible.”

[TheEncogitationerParticipant]

Pope Beanie,

According to  Basil Davidson’s History of the African Slave Trade the West African victims of slavery were victimized from three different directions: First by African Animist Chieftains and Kings who captured slaves as booty of tribal warfare, then, by African and Arab Muslim slave traders, finally, by European Christians who bought slaves wholesale from the previous two sources.

Also, African slaves were brought to South America as a supposedly “humanitarian” alternative to the Conquistadores enslaving the indigenous peoples.  IIRC, it was one of the Popes of the day who suggested that.

For all these reasons and more, Africans and Indigenous Americans have every reason to despise religion.

[DavisModerator]

Ivy your claim likely comes from a heavily American-centric view of Atheism and doesn’t represent the rest of the world very well. This is especially the case in East Asia where literally a Billion people do not encounter nor confront the idea of “God” (or only extremely sparingly) and do not take a position on God one way or another. They don’t have to. Probably most don’t even want to (or put more than a fleeting amount of thought into it). It is somewhat similar in parts of secular Europe. For example the Netherlands is overwhelmingly a country of non-believers and only an extremely short portion of their lives is dedicated to God though (unless they live near a very religious community or have menacing family members etc). I don’t know many European atheists who even care to make a “I know there is no God” claim. Why would they? They don’t have to. It’s all nonsense after all. And for the most part (though this varies from country to country) religion plays little to no role in their lives and annoying people trying to make it intrude into their lives is very uncommon. I confront religion so rarely in Spain or Belgium, it only comes up when religious people do crazy things in other countries or if I choose to engage in the topic online because I personally care about it. It is religious people who try to make atheism somehow comparable to religion so they can criticize atheism on their own terms or a small and EXTREMELY vocal minority of atheists who claim certainty where they probably shouldn’t. In other words: The american climate of atheism does not equal the world’s climate of atheism.

[TheEncogitationerParticipant]

Fellow  Unbelievers,

One thing is for certain: No one in the SJW/BLM/Antifa movements can blame any of this on Atheism as a concept or as a movement:

North Charlotte church now linked to over 100 COVID-19 cases, 3 deaths

https://www.wcnc.com/mobile/article/news/health/coronavirus/coronavirus-outbreak-charlotte-church/275-e9fc0c7b-2786-4b3f-93d4-f07ec7a1c190

This church is more like The United House Of Prayer For All People Who Love Not The World Nor The Things Of This World.  I bet they have a mesh net mask that says: “No Lives Matter” and “I’m Glad I Can’t Breathe.”😰🤬

• This reply was modified 4 years, 3 months ago by  TheEncogitationer.

[TheEncogitationerParticipant]

Fellow Unbelievers,

Here is an update.  Now, the 1000 person convocation of the Charlotte United House of Prayer has resulted in 143 infections and 5 deaths, along with 7 hospitalizations. A Hell of a price to pay for piety and fellowship.  Even members are now condemning church leaders over this:

Some religious leaders continue to hold services online in light of super spreader event
https://www.wcnc.com/mobile/article/news/health/coronavirus/some-religious-leaders-continue-to-hold-services-online-in-light-of-super-spreader-event/275-946c15ff-5393-467a-87ac-a1ff31c7ece8

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